Roberto Mancini's side have seen the defence of their crown all but ended already, with Manchester United boasting a 15-point lead at the summit.

And, ahead of the Magpies' meeting with City, the 27-year-old has claimed that it is because the Etihad Stadium side's "fantastic" players do not work well enough as unit.

"United are a machine. Sir Alex is doing a fantastic job for the club," he told The Sun. “Even when the players change, he knows which player is going to be good for his team.

“City have fantastic players but, unfortunately for them, they don’t think and play as a team — it’s not the same as United. So maybe that’s the difference. City are still a fantastic team, but they are a team of individuals."

Cabaye came up against Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets during the international break, as France suffered a 1-0 loss to Spain.

And the Frenchman is keen to do battle with another impressive foe on Saturday in the form of Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure.

"Every time, it’s the best feeling for me when we play against the best players in the world. On Wednesday, it was Spain and on Saturday, it’s going to be Yaya Toure. He is the best in the Premier League," he said.

“Toure is the best because he can defend, he can score, he can play up offensively and defensively. He’s the complete midfielder and he deserves to be where he is.

“Kun Aguero, David Silva, Carlos Tevez and many more are all fantastic players. I don’t want to say their stars are less good than Yaya Toure but when Yaya misses a game — like at Everton — they lost.

“It’s going to be totally different than the Spain midfield but it’s going to be tough as well, we will have a big, big job to do to stop City.”